Toy tracks for toy vehicles such as toy cars may be used to set up play race courses and other play settings for the toy vehicles, to provide entertainment and challenges to players. In a simulated race course setting, the toy tracks are often set up in a looped course for the toy vehicles to circumnavigate. Typically, some sort of electrical or mechanical means is used to provide a motive force for the vehicles. For example, many tracks employ a pair of rotating, opposed bumpers between which the toy vehicles pass and are accelerated by the bumpers' rotation. An example of one configuration of such an assembly can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,554. Other examples of propulsion mechanisms, sometimes referred to as “boosters,” may be found in the following patents and publications: U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,972, U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,347, U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,969, U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,730, U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,789, U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,573, US20080242193. Such track setups provide for the players to race cars against one another, either directly or successively, and to watch the cars as they travel along the course and perform stunts and crash.
The track pathway in play race course settings usually provides a generally flat surface disposed between an opposing pair of side rails, so that the toy vehicles are more or less constrained to traverse the guided pathway as they move. The track forming the pathway may be formed as a single unitary piece, but is often provided as a series of interconnectable segments. In either case, the pathway configurations in race course settings may vary quite a bit, such as to provide a number of different turns, twists, jumps, and so forth, along the pathway, either by means of specially-shaped track pieces, and/or by other structure coupled or incorporated into the track, such as ramps, inclines, and so forth.
Optionally, a pathway configuration may provide an opportunity for players to collide (or a challenge for players to avoid colliding) the toy vehicles traversing the track with one or more obstacles, and/or with each other. By incorporating an intersection in which the pathway crosses over itself, such as in a classic Figure-8 formation, for example, players may find excitement in attempting to crash (or avoid crashing) toy vehicles into each other as they enter into and cross through the intersection. Such collisions may result in one (or more) toy vehicles being propelled from the pathway, especially if one or more of the vehicles are moving with a fair amount of speed.
Some examples of toy vehicle tracksets incorporating intersecting pathways may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,500, U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,966, U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,789, U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,789, U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,942, U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,654, U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,508, US20070293122 and US20080020675. Some examples of toy vehicle tracksets with adjustable ramps and components can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,574, U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,021, U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,875, U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,089, U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,216, U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,480, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,951,497. The disclosures of all of these and all other references cited in this disclosure are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.